6 Comments

Cristina Abellar
on September 15, 2014 at 1:44 pm

I was very anxious & excited to purchase my first home especially when it was very near my workplace. A friend recommended a Realtor who knew a house listed that was within my geographic area & price range. We went after work when sun was almost down. The Realtor assured me of seeing the inside of the house even at dark with a flashlight he had on hand, I was thrilled! In about after five minutes of us roaming & flashing inside the house,we heard helicopters circling the neighborhood. I told the Realtor that maybe there was a convict on the loose & the cops are looking, maybe this is not a good area after all. The Realtor said that such happened anywhere & something I should not worry about. Voices were coming out from the helicopter, words we cannot understand.We decided to stay inside a little longer as we thought the search was around us & really serious,perhaps it was safe for us to stay put.So we continued with our in house search until it quiet down.When everything was calm we decided to leave.As we opened the door,”Put your hands up,up,up,walk to the wall & put your hands against the wall”,exclaimed by I think a dozen police officers & 5 or 6 police cars plus the helicopter light spotting on us!After minutes which felt like hours of interrogation we were told that we were in a Neighborhood Watch area & a good neighbor reported our suspicious activity.It took me several years to look for another house (well, because I didn’t qualify) & never with a flash light!

I went to look at an upscale home in a great neighborhood. We arrived at the end of the open house period, the owner – a female Doctor, was a bit surprised to see us but welcomed us anyway. The house was on a hillside – entering on the second floor main level with living, kitchen, dining, and one bedroom. There was a workout room on the first floor and master suite on the 3rd floor. What she didn’t realize is that she left the huge screen TV on in the living room with soft PORN playing! I motioned my client on to the deck off the living-dining area and asked her if she noticed what was playing on the TV she had noticed an orgy going on in the living room! We decided to go downstairs from the deck and when we came back upstairs the porn was still playing!! We laugh about the porn house to this day.

Had a condo foreclosure in a Santa Ana slum apartment conversion – arrived and found the unit occupied by two druggies who had a stained sofa, mattress on the floor, pots and pans, and razor blades etc on the window sills.
The bank wanted it painted so I hired a painter who went to the property, and he called me and asked what to do about the tenants. I replied that he should politely say they should leave because of the paint fumes, so they left, and he painted. He called me at 5 PM and said he was through for the day and what to do about the tenants who had not returned, and I said to close and lock the door and return tomorrow. He returned the next day and they weren’t there. He changed the locks. They never came back.
Easiest eviction ever!

My partner and I had a duplex listed and instructed agents in MLS to call us only for the combo lock box so we so we could control showings to protect a very sound day sleeper tenant upstairs.
Well…an agent who called us to get combo just gave the combo to his clients who went in WITHOUT HIM and almost got SHOT as they woke up this sleeping tenant who was armed and thought she had a break in.
This was 1/2 mile from East Oakland and even in 1997 the area had a lot of crime.
I learned how tough/time consuming it would be to do a complaint with DRE back then, or our local Board and just let it go. That’s the scary part…this idiot agent probably did this again later?
I left the business later for things such as this and still gathering my nerve to get back in with the sharks.

I was having difficulty making a seller understand that the market was changing for her condo sale. The HOA was mismanaged and had large 17K assessments against each unit for deferred roof repairs. I explained that the condo would not appraise for the amount she demanded, that no buyer could pay her price because all the local appraisers had a big red flag on the property due to the HOA assessments. The seller called me the next day, mad as hell. She said she spent all morning going over every inch of the property and there was no red flag anywhere!

Lesson Learned – While showing property; we entered, closed the door behind us. And was completely locked in, the door handle was broken and no way to turn knob. Back yard led to 6 foot high fence with pad locks. Of course neither I nor my client had phone. My client was in her 70’s so it was up to me to climb through a very high front window with dress and heals. The home fronted a very busy street so everyone passing got a good laugh. They teach to plan your escape route but now I always have my phone!

klesb Mike, you have identified the problem well. Democrats in government are anxiously trying to apply their economic theories to issues that require market based solutions... – Los Angeles rental crisis continues in 2019

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